


Baking Lessons

by Shihanne



Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:08:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27953669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shihanne/pseuds/Shihanne
Summary: When Ken requests baking lessons from Yamato and Sora for reasons he's being suspiciously evasive about, the two of them figure out that he might have a thing for someone...with disastrous results.
Relationships: Ichijouji Ken/Inoue Miyako | Yolei Inoue, Ishida Yamato | Matt Ishida/Takenouchi Sora
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Baking Lessons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [digitalgate02](https://archiveofourown.org/users/digitalgate02/gifts).



Yamato was, naturally, rather fond of all of his brother’s friends, but he had to admit that dealing with them was often like dealing with a bunch of rambunctious puppies, especially Daisuke – they were clearly happy to help out in any way, but they had a tendency to get in a bit over their heads and run around in circles. With that, it wasn’t surprising that once Ken had joined their little group, Yamato found him to be quite the refreshing change of pace within them – unlike Taichi or Daisuke, he didn’t have a tendency to do something reckless unprompted, was refreshingly straightforward, and was surprisingly easy to talk to.

So when the day came that Ken suddenly made a request to meet up with him via email, Yamato realized that he’d ended up taking quite the investment in the boy. Even though he’d long since learned the truth about what had happened behind him, the Ichijouji Ken he knew now was so different from whatever he’d been back then that he was almost like a completely different person. Somehow, seeing the boy asking for help, so politely and deferentially, just made him immediately curious as to what this was about…

They met at a small restaurant, Ken with Wormmon in tow. Despite everything, and despite having known him for a while now, Ken still seemed to be rather shy – although Yamato couldn’t tell if he was being shy around him specifically, or if he was just being overly polite as usual.

“I’m sorry for calling you out here,” he said, politely (he was always so polite).

“Don’t worry about it, you’re the one who came all the way up here from Tamachi. So, what’d you call me for?”

“It felt a little awkward to ask for such a huge request over email, but…” Ken bit his lip and laughed a little awkwardly. “I…was wondering if you would be able to teach me a few things about cooking?”

Yamato raised an eyebrow, taken a little aback. He hadn’t expected that.

“Well, I’m happy to help, but it depends on what exactly you want to cook. I’m not exactly the greatest chef ever, but I can make a few things…what exactly are you thinking of?”

Ken’s expression got even more awkward. “Um, well…I just thought it might be good to be able to make something useful…”

Yamato’s suspicion radar immediately went off. It was unusual for the generally straightforward Ken to suddenly get so evasive – and the fact Wormmon seemed to be looking at Ken with just as much confusion confirmed that something fishy was going on.

“Something useful…So you mean, like, something you can make for events or entertaining people?”

“A-Ah! Yeah! Something like that!” said Ken, in possibly the most transparent _yeah, let’s go with that_ tone imaginable.

Yamato sighed and raised a hand to his chin.

“Well…For these kinds of things the easiest standby would generally be baked things, like cookies. I’m not really much good at that myself, though…I feel like Sora would be better at that, actually.”

His thoughts were swirling at rapid pace – both out of a genuine desire to help Ken out with whatever was troubling him, and out of morbid curiosity as to what was _actually_ going on here.

“Tell you what. My old man’s usually out most of the day, so we’ll pick a day when Sora’s free and have her come over. You guys can use my oven, and we’ll figure something out. Deal?”

“Thank you so much, Yamato-san…It’ll be really helpful!”

Ken laughed awkwardly again, and Yamato noticed that he still wasn’t elaborating on what exactly this was for.

* * *

Ever since they had started dating, Yamato and Sora hadn’t actually spent much time at Yamato’s apartment, even though they could have easily gotten away with it when his father was out so often – they generally preferred to hang out together in actual places, like restaurants or other outings. But now that they had actual business at the apartment, Sora had decided to come early a few hours before Ken’s arrival, ostensibly to help set up for baking, but really because she wanted to take the opportunity to spend a few more hours with her boyfriend.

“I’m _telling_ you,” said Sora, “he’s got a crush on someone!”

“Really? What gives you that impression?”

“Call it a girl’s intuition! It’s suspicious that he won’t give you any good reason about why, right? Which means he’s embarrassed. Ichijouji-kun’s not the kind of kid who gets embarrassed easily…so this has to be something _really_ sensitive.” She pulled a bag of sugar from the pantry. “This is white sugar, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, good.” She placed the bag next to a bowl on the counter. “And you know Ichijouji-kun, he’s always pretty honest about things, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Something so, _so_ embarrassing that he can’t even tell us about it…trust me, I can tell. He’s got a crush on someone.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right…We’ll have to see when he gets here and see how much we can get out of him.”

Sora giggled. “I bet he won’t make it very easy for us, though.”

Yamato, seeing Sora laughing, matched her with a genuine chuckle. “Not at all.”

There was a ring of the doorbell at just that moment.

“Coming~!” said Sora, cheerfully, opening the door to find – just as expected – Ken, with Wormmon on his shoulder. “Ah, Ichijouji-kun’s here!”

“Hello. Thank you for helping me,” he said, bowing his head a little. “I’m sorry for imposing on you…”

“No, no, I’m glad to help! We’re working over here in the kitchen.”

Sora led Ken to the kitchen, where a number of bowls, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and a number of other miscellaneous ingredients were laid out on the counter. “Baking is something that takes a few tries, and even with perfect measurements the results can be different, so I thought we should start with cookies – regular cookies are easier to get right than cakes or something else of the sort, and they’re easy to take places and last a long time, too.”

“Right, I see. Thank you very much,” said Ken, placing down his bag near the table and following Sora into the kitchen.

“By the way…” said Sora.

Yamato had to hold himself back from smirking – he knew this tone Sora was stepping into. It was the one she picked up any time they went on a date and she wanted to sweet-talk convince him into something – he of course was used to entertaining it by now, but it was amusing to see it in _this_ context.

“…so, what is this for, anyway? Yamato didn’t really tell me anything, but are you planning to make these for something?”

“A-Ah, well…I thought it would be good if I learned how to handle food, because my mom usually does all the cooking, and I haven’t had a lot of experience in the kitchen…”

Yamato had to hold back another smirk – _that_ certainly didn’t sound like it tracked exactly with what he’d said yesterday.

“Well, it’s a good time to get started now, then!” said Sora. “Is there anything in particular coming up that you’re making it for?”

“N-No, not really…”

The tone of Ken’s response was so shaky that Yamato could easily see through the lie, and the knowing glance Sora shot back at Yamato indicated that she’d caught it, too.

“We’ll just put that aside for now. So if we want to make cookies…”

* * *

Ken was a remarkably tidy person; even with the generally very messy affair that baking often ended up being, he cleaned after himself well and managed to keep the area neat and free of loose flour. But his behavior never stopped being suspicious – especially after they finished a first batch of (rather decently made) cookies, and he started asking about moving onto different things.

As Ken and Wormmon peered into the oven waiting for a cake to bake, Sora stood up.

“We can’t make anything else at this rate unless we restock ingredients, so could you stay here and watch the cake while Yamato and I go get more?”

“Oh! Okay!” said Ken, turning his head to look at them and smiling.

“We’ll make sure it comes out nice and fluffy!” chimed in Wormmon from his shoulder.

Sora grabbed Yamato and (rather forcefully) dragged him outside, shut the door behind them, and pulled him far away from it, as if to make absolute sure that Ken was far out of earshot.

“So?”

“I was right! He’s _definitely_ got a crush on someone. There’s no way he’d be acting like that otherwise.”

Yamato smirked. “Heh. Of course…But man, he doesn’t need to be like this. He should be honest…We’re not gonna tell on him or anything…”

The two of them started walking slowly towards the convenience store to pick up more eggs and flour, both feeling very proud of themselves. It was only when they reached the bottom floor when Sora suddenly stopped in her tracks.

“Wait. Yamato.”

“Huh?”

Sora’s face had lost the self-satisfied pride it had picked up only moments earlier, and she was now staring into space. “I’m wondering…What if the reason he’s being like this is that it’s someone we know?”

“Someone we know…?”

The realization dawned on Yamato.

“So he’s not telling us because it’s someone we know…”

Ken had always been the type to get attention for his looks and intelligence, something he’d never really been able to shake off even after his reputation as a “genius” had gone away. Because of that, it was easy to imagine that he could easily snag anyone he’d be interested in, and Yamato had been thinking that he’d just need to support him through the intimidation. But if it was someone he _knew_ …

“But then…who could it be…”

The two of them continued to walk slowly away from the apartment stairs, still thinking deeply. The two of them made their way to the store, trying to weave through the implications of what they’d just realized. They didn’t have that many mutual friends, which meant…

“Yamato…” said Sora. “I think Ichijouji-kun might have a thing for Hikari-chan.”

“Hikari-chan?!”

Yamato spat out the words in reflexive shock, but the truth was that he had started to hit on that realization too. Yet the implications were so concerning to him that he didn’t want to accept it.

“Hikari-chan…No way, but…”

“Think about it. He agreed so quickly to your suggestion about baking, didn’t he? And Hikari-chan loves sweets, doesn’t she?”

“A-Ah…”

The more Yamato thought about it, the more it made sense (or, at least, the easier it was to come up with rationalizations of how that made sense). Hikari, too, was very popular at school, and easily attracted the attention of many a boy, to the point that it was easy to imagine that anyone her age could probably find her cute and attractive. And she had a calm and polite temperament, exactly the kind of personality that the agreeable and polite Ken would be liable to get along with…

The two of them walked into the store, digesting the realization they’d just had, to the point where they were making their way to get the eggs and flour on effective autopilot.

“This is bad…” said Yamato.

“Huh?” said Sora, still half-lost in thought.

“How is Taichi gonna take this…Not only Daisuke, but also Ichijouji too…”

“Oh, _no_ , Daisuke-kun!”

Sora yelled so loudly that the girl at the counter (Chizuru, whom Yamato recognized from school) looked at them quizzically, and the two of them, noticing that they were being stared at, dropped their conversation to a whisper.

“This is bad!” whispered Sora. “Daisuke-kun is Ichijouji-kun’s best friend…Ichijouji-kun was probably acting like this because he doesn’t want Daisuke-kun to know about this…If things get bad between them…”

A cold sweat went down the back of Yamato’s neck, and he shuddered a little. Daisuke was most certainly Ken’s best friend – they had a relationship much like his and Taichi’s own, or arguably even _closer_ , since Ken seemed to not really have much of a social circle beyond Daisuke and the others. Not only that, Daisuke’s friendship had been instrumental to helping Ken recover from his time as the Digimon Kaiser –

Of course, it would be a very extreme reason to happen, but what if, _what if_ –

Their train of thought was interrupted by a loud _bang_ near the door of the convenience store. On the floor, twitching slightly, was Miyako, who seemed to have tripped over right in front of the door and fallen right into the store as the automatic convenience store doors had opened just at the right time to welcome her in. On the floor was a pile of supplies that she’d presumably brought to the store, along with Poromon, who also seemed to have dropped from her arms in quite the painful position.

“Miyako-chan, are you okay?!” said Sora, rushing to her side.

“Ah! Sora-san! Nice to see you here!” She hastily picked up all of the supplies (and Poromon) and smiled cheerfully, as if that entire incident hadn’t just happened. “I’m fine, I’m fine! Sorry, I’d like to talk more, but I’m in a hurry!”

She dashed behind the corner and into the back (it seemed like she hadn’t even seen Yamato). Normally, the two of them would have pursued her out of concern for her, but the matter at hand was so pressing that it didn’t take long for them to go back to thinking about it, quickly paying for the ingredients, and leaving the store.

* * *

“We can’t do this, Yamato!” said Sora. “We can’t betray Daisuke-kun like this, and we shouldn’t get between Daisuke-kun and Ichijouji-kun! This is something we have to stay out of!”

“I…I know, but…” Yamato grit his teeth angrily. “We can’t just abandon Ichijouji like this either…”

Yamato opened the door to his apartment, and the two of them walked in – but, suddenly, without warning, Sora grabbed him, opened the nearby closet door, pushed him inside, followed him in, and closed the door, leaving the two of them crammed within the closet in the dark.

“Sora – ”

“Shhhhhh!” said Sora, gesturing in the direction where Ken was in the kitchen. The two of them leaned close to the doorway, listening to what seemed to be a conversation between Ken and Wormmon, who apparently hadn’t heard the front door.

“Ken-chan, you’ve been so worried about this party lately…”

“I…I just want to do this right…” said Ken, with some rather uncharacteristic nervousness.

Yamato and Sora exchanged glances, and although they didn’t say a word, they could read each other’s expressions even in the dim lights. _Party?_

“Is the party that important?”

“I mean, she’s always doing her best to help me, so I have to return the favor…”

Yet another chill surged through Yamato, and he could feel Sora shaking at the same time. Their suspicions had been right – this definitely sounded like Hikari, no matter how they wrapped their heads around it. No matter how much they hoped it wasn’t true…

Suddenly, Yamato heard footsteps outside the front door, and, his nerves all on edge because of the incident, Yamato opened the closet door, poked his head outside the front door, and saw Koushirou. Yamato briefly remembered that Koushirou had said a few days prior that he’d be bringing something he’d been working on to consult with him on – _ah, but this is such a bad time!!_

All rationality thrown out the window, Yamato grabbed Koushirou and dragged him into the closet too.

“Wh— Yamato-san…?!”

“ _Shhhhh!_ ” whispered Yamato and Sora simultaneously.

“Listen, Koushirou,” whispered Yamato. “Ichijouji’s in the kitchen right now, and he’s gotten weirdly fixated on cooking for someone. Supposedly there’s some kind of party going on. You’re the one who gets to see Takeru and his friends way more often than we do, so if you know anything about this, spill it.”

“I…huh? What’s going on…?”

“Koushirou-kun, please, if you know anything!” whispered Sora, her voice full of tension.

“I…I…” Koushirou, flustered, breathed a few times in order to get over the shock of just having been dragged into a closet, and finally began stammering.

“Ah…well…if it’s a party…I imagine it might be for Miyako-kun…”

The air in the closet suddenly felt significantly thicker.

“ _Miyako-chan?!”_

Both Yamato and Sora breathed out the name so loudly that they realized what they were doing, and Sora clasped her hands around her mouth.

“Y-Yes…Well, Miyako-kun’s birthday is coming up soon, and I think I remember Daisuke-kun and Hikari-san talking about doing something for it earlier…If they’re having a party, I’m sure Ichijouji-kun would be going, too…”

Yamato and Sora looked at each other blankly.

Miyako?

It wasn’t that Yamato thought Miyako was a theoretically unappealing girl, not by any shake of the imagination, but…

Yamato slowly opened the closet door and crept outside, looking around the corner to see Ken and Wormmon in the kitchen, looking at the cake they’d pulled out of the oven and appraising it. The area was still incredibly tidy and neat…

He looked back at Sora, who had followed him to the corner and was looking exactly as bemused.

It was obvious from Sora’s facial expression that the two of them were thinking about the exact same thing: Miyako faceplanted on the floor of the convenience store.

* * *

After interrogating enough parties, Yamato and Sora had managed to secure details about the party and concoct a sufficient excuse for “a quick delivery” that would allow them to drop over. There was no need to invite themselves to a party that mostly wasn’t their business – all they needed was a quick glimpse.

Daisuke greeted them cheerfully at the door. “Oh hey, Yamato-san, Sora-san!”

The two of them went in to “deliver” the large water bottles (that weren’t really all that necessary), giving them close enough viewing range of Ken and Miyako.

Yamato and Sora had certainly seen the two quite a few times, but they naturally didn’t get to see them every single day, nor did they make an attempt to pry into their daily social lives. But now that they were paying close attention to their interactions, all the little details were starting to check. It was normal for Ken to be polite, but there was a noticeable sense of on-edge tension he had while talking to Miyako, as if he were still a little shy around her…along with his voice jumping up half an octave higher than he would with others, and him seeming to laugh at an unusually large number of things she said, even things Yamato weren’t sure were all that funny.

Yamato and Sora turned to each other, very slowly, both having let the inevitable verification of the truth sink on them.

“Yamato…” said Sora.

“Yeah?”

“I… _really_ don’t know what to do now.”

They looked back to see Miyako, blissfully oblivious of the realization that the two had just touched on, catching sight of them and cheerfully waving.

“…Yeah,” said Yamato. “I don’t either.”

**Author's Note:**

> I noticed that, in 02, each of the initial 02 kids sans Takeru and Hikari generally had a senior they formed a particular connection to -- Daisuke with Taichi, Miyako with Koushirou and Mimi, and Iori with Jou. I wondered if maybe the same would happen with Ken and Yamato and Sora, especially since I felt their temperaments would endear them well to each other, and this was the result.
> 
> Well, that was *one* reason for this fic. The other is that I enjoyed the idea of portraying Yamato and Sora as having a few screws loose even when they're smack in the middle of a stable relationship...


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